JPS59128448A - Piping inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting plant structural materials, and particularly to an apparatus for remotely detecting ultrasonic flaws in piping and the like.

[Prior art]

In order to maintain the integrity of structural materials such as piping in various plants, inspections such as ultrasonic flaw detection and eddy current flaw detection are carried out regularly. These inspection methods are generally performed manually, but in recent years automatic inspection devices that are operated by scanning commands from a remote location are also being used.

Inspection, whether manual or automatic, requires an inspector or worker to approach the inspection site. However, there were places where inspections could not be conducted in close quarters, such as in high places with small working spaces. For example, in a group of pipes lined up in layers at narrow intervals, if you wanted to inspect the inner pipes, you couldn't reach them, so you couldn't attach a probe or inspection device to them. Even if the device could be attached, if the inspection area was wide, a lot of time was spent attaching and detaching it.

Furthermore, when a couplant liquid is used, such as in ultrasonic flaw detection, it is difficult to collect the liquid due to the narrow space.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide an inspection device that can be easily attached and detached even in places where inspectors cannot access such as narrow spaces, can inspect a wide area with one installation, and does not require the supply of couplant. It is in.

[Summary of the invention]

By operating the handle from the other end of the piping inspection device attached to the end of the arm, it is possible to clamp and release the clamp on the piping, remove the arm, and attach the arm.Only the piping inspection device can automatically move along the piping. In addition, in order to eliminate the need for a couplant supply, the probe is covered with a semipermeable membrane and the couplant is filled inside, making it possible to perform inspections using only the moisture seeping through the semipermeable membrane surface. It is characterized by what it did.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Piping group IA arranged at narrow intervals as shown in Figure 1,
This is an example in which a pipe 1 located in the UK of iB, IC, ID, and IE is subjected to ultrasonic flaw detection.

The drive unit 15 with the probe 19 attached to the tip of the arm 12 is attached to the pipe 1 by operating the handle 11, and the arm 12 is separated from the flange 14 by operating the same handle in order to run only the drive unit 15. . After this, the drive unit 15 rotates the motor 20 by remote control via a cable, and performs ultrasonic flaw detection while running the motor 20 along the pipe 1. In this case, the couplant is housed together with the probe in a semipermeable membrane bag, and the flaw detection can be performed without supplying the couplant from the outside.

To explain in more detail, with the handle IIA in position, the claw 16A1 and the rollers 17A and 18A are opened,
Pass it between the pipes IC and ID, or between the pipes LB and IC, and insert it close to the pipe 1. Next, when the handle 11 is positioned, the shaft 1 in the arm 12 connected to it
3 moves the lever 22, and the roller 1 moves as shown by the solid line.
8.17 and the claw 16 can be clamped to the pipe 1. This state is maintained by a spring 24. When the stopper 23 is further rotated to the handle IIB position, the 7 langes 21 are removed from the 7 langes 14 and the arm 12 can be released. Details of this attachment/detachment mechanism will be described later. When the motor 20 of the drive unit 15 from which the arm 12 has been removed is rotated, the rotation is transmitted to the drive row 218, and the scanning blade is cut along the pipe 1.

Figure 1 shows the internal mechanism in cross section along the length of the arm.
It becomes a diagram. At the position of the handle 11 shown by the solid line, the row 2
18, 17 and the claw 16 are in a state where they are clamped to the pipe 1. To release the clamp, push the lever 29 and the spring 49 will move the handle IIA to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line. The amount of displacement is transmitted to the shaft 13 and the joint 26, the shaft 36 moves along the elongated hole 31, and the angle of the bar 28 is changed via the lever 22.

This opens the rollers 18, 17 and pawls 16 connected thereto, releasing the clamp. In this case, the same movement is also transmitted to the running roller 17 via the shaft 27. During this operation, as shown in FIG.
Convey via ゜34.35. In this open state, the spring 24 is stretched, so the reaction force is held by engaging the pawl of the lever 29 with the ratchet 30 shown in FIG.

Next, when removing the arm 12 from the drive unit, rotate the stopper 23 in Fig. 2 to the handle IIB position.
The plug 37 can be removed from the joint 26 and the 7 flange 21 can be removed from the flange 14. This will be explained with reference to FIG. The flange 21 has a pin 43, and when inserted into the hole of the seven flange 14, the ball 45 pushed by the spring 44 enters the groove of the pin 43, and both the seven flange 14 and 21 can be fixed. This bottle 43 can be pulled out of the hole in the flange 14 by pulling on the force plate that pushes up the ball 45. Therefore, if the plug 37 is removed from the joint 26 in advance, the arm 12 can be easily removed from the 7-lunge 14. Next, when removing the plug 37 from the joint 26, pull the shaft 13 in the direction of the arrow, the joint 26 will move together with the plug 37, and the slider 3
9 stops at the stopper 38 position. Since the joint 26 compresses the spring 40 and moves further, the plug 37
The ball 42, which is in the groove at the tip of the slider 39, is pushed up at the point where the inner diameter of the slider 39 becomes large.This causes the ball 42 to come out of the groove crab of the plug 37, and the joint 26
The plug 37 can be removed from the In this way, the drive unit 15 and the arm 1? and can be separated. Conversely, when inserting the plug 37 into the joint 26,
Simply push the button into the installed state shown in Figure 4. Note that when attaching and detaching the drive unit 15 and the arm 120 portion, it is necessary to adjust the force with which the ball 45 is pressed against the groove of the bottle 43 in advance using the screw 46 in order to make the operation smooth.

Next, a case in which ultrasonic flaw detection is performed while traveling along a pipe will be explained with reference to FIG. When the motor 20 is rotated by applying a voltage through a cable (not shown), the rotation is transmitted to the roller 18 via gears 55, 56 and 54, 53, and the motor 20 runs along the pipe 1. In this case, another roller (
(not shown) is also transmitted the same rotation from the gear 54. There is a pair of rollers 17 separate from this roller 18, and this roller 17 has no driving force and is provided for the purpose of stable running. The surfaces of these rollers 17 and 18 that come into contact with the pipe 1 are coated with rubber to increase the frictional force and prevent the rollers 17 and 18 from idling or falling off. Since the clamping action of the roller 17 explained in FIG. 2 is transmitted to the shaft 27, the roller 17
The roller 17 moves along the gear 57 centering on and opens and closes. ! The same movement is transmitted to the opposite roller by gear 59.

Next, the flaw detection method will be explained using the same figure. Ultrasonic probe 1
A plurality of pipes 9 are arranged in the main body 60 and in the claws 16 along the circumference so as to cover the entire circumference of the pipe i. Main body 60 and claw 1
If the semipermeable membranes 50 and 51 are stretched on the inner surfaces of the membranes 50 and 51 to the extent that water does not flow out, and the water chambers 52 of each are filled with water in advance, the semipermeable membranes 50 and 51
The surface of 0.51 becomes wet. For this reason, when the semipermeable membranes 50 and 51 are clamped to the pipe 1, the moisture allows ultrasonic waves to propagate well to the pipe 1.

In this way, the amount of water consumed in the water chamber 52 can be extremely reduced,
Can detect flaws in a wide area without replenishing.

If only the main body 60 portion of FIG. 5 is shown, it becomes as shown in FIG. 6. A semipermeable membrane 51 is placed on the front surface of the probe 19 disposed in the main body 60, and water as a couplant is supplied into the membrane from the valve 61 to fill the water chamber 52 with water.

After flaw detection is completed in this way, return the drive unit to the predetermined position in the piping, operate the arm 12 as shown in FIG. Insert the plug 37 into and secure it. Next, when the handle 11 is moved to the handle IIA position by operating the lever 29 of the ratchet 30, the rollers 17, 18 and the pawl 16 are engaged, and the drive unit 1 can be removed from the pipe 1.

According to this embodiment, the following effects are achieved.

Since the in-arm allows it to be attached to and detached from a subject at a distance, it is possible to inspect areas that are difficult for inspectors to approach, such as inspections in narrow spaces or at high places.

(b) The arm section can be attached and detached from the drive section by operating the handle,
In addition, clamping and releasing can be done easily.

(c) Since it can be driven along the piping with a remote scanning command, a wide area can be inspected just by installing it once on the piping.

) Since the amount of couplant used is extremely small, a wide area can be inspected without replenishment. Furthermore, since it does not flow out to the outside, there is no contamination such as rust caused by the couplant, and recovery equipment is not required.

(e) Since the membrane deforms in accordance with the deformation of the piping, good contact can be maintained and inspection performance can be improved.

In the embodiment, a method of automatic scanning after being attached to piping has been described, but the method is not limited to this, and manual operation can also be used. As shown in Figure 7, the shaft 13 in the arm 12 is pulled by gripping the grip 10 and handle 11, and the movement is controlled by the gear 74.
The claws 70 can be opened and closed by transmitting the command to clamp the piping and release the clamp. A probe filled with water is installed inside the semipermeable membrane 51 to perform flaw detection. In this case, 7 lunges 7
3 and the flange 72 are not attached or detached by operating the handle 11, but are used with them kept in close contact with each other. Therefore, when changing the inspection location, the handle 11 is operated to clamp and release the clamp, and the arm 12 is moved together. When an angle probe is used as the ultrasonic probe inside the semipermeable membrane 51, the beam is only transmitted in one direction, the axial direction of the pipe, so if the beam is to be transmitted in the opposite direction, If the flange 72 is removed from the flange 73 and the flange 71 is attached, the direction is reversed so that the ultrasonic beam can be transmitted in the opposite direction as well.

The present invention is not limited to ultrasonic probes, and eddy current probes do not deviate from the purpose in any way. Moreover, a temperature sensor etc. can also be attached.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, (1) it is possible to inspect narrow or high places that inspectors cannot get close to, (2) it is possible to inspect a wide area because it can travel along piping, and (9) the amount of couplant used is extremely low. Since the amount is small, it has the advantage of being able to inspect a wide area without replenishing it.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is a three-dimensional view showing the external appearance of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view showing the internal structure in the longitudinal direction of the arm in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 explains the clamping operation. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the attachment/detachment mechanism of the drive section and arm section, FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the axial direction of the piping, FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional view with only the probe section extracted, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional diagram showing another application example. 11... Handle, 12... Arm, 13.36.
...shaft, 14.21...7 lunge, 17.18
...roller, 19...o-7, 20...motor,
22...Lever, 25...Bi/, 26...Joint, 28...Bar, 31...Plug, 51...
Semi-permeable membrane, 53.54,55゜Pole 3 section 36 28 4th mist No.50 Pole l

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device that is equipped with a sensor for measurement and performs measurement such as inspection by bringing the sensor into contact with or in close proximity to an object, which is equipped with a sensor at the tip of an arm and a sensor at the other end of the arm. A piping inspection device comprising means for clamping a sensor to an object, means for releasing the clamp, and means for attaching and detaching the arm and the sensor. 2. The piping inspection device according to item 1, characterized by comprising means for automatically traveling along the object and means for maintaining the clamped state. 3. The piping inspection device according to item 1 or 2, characterized in that a semipermeable membrane is provided at least on the subject side of the ultrasonic sensor, and a couplant liquid is filled inside the semipermeable membrane.